


Blood on the Snow

by barbarosabee



Series: (mis)Adventures with a Wild Mustang [3]
Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: Animal Attack, Blood, Gen, Hurt Arthur Morgan, Injury, Whump, just a touch of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-16
Updated: 2019-07-16
Packaged: 2020-06-29 20:23:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19837876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/barbarosabee/pseuds/barbarosabee
Summary: Arthur really ought to stop helping random folk he finds out in the wilderness. Never turns out well.





	Blood on the Snow

**Author's Note:**

> got a tumblr ask: "If Arthur and calliope were out in the mountains, and Arthur were on foot, and a grizzly popped up and went to charge at Arthur, would Calliope stick around while he had a tussle with the bear or run?"
> 
> and this is what happened. Basically a warm up before I work on my other stories so this is unedited and raw.

“Last goddamn favor I do,” Arthur grumbled to himself as he circled through the snowy woods once more. He’d lost sight of the feller a while ago and they were out of earshot from each other. 

Arthur was intending to stay in the cabin he’d thought abandoned. Hadn’t been anyone in it the other times he’d stayed there. Never much liked coming all the way back up here to the Grizzlies but inevitably had to for one goddamn errand or another. Tried to make it out of the mountains in a day so he wouldn’t have to camp in the cold, but whenever he couldn’t, this cabin was the best thing around. Better than the tent, even if Calliope liked to sleep in it with him to keep warm.

Na, no such luck this time, some young buck apparently staying there with his hunting buddy. Who had disappeared into the snow some hours ago. With dark fast encroaching, he’d all but begged Arthur to help him.

Arthur was pretty sure the other kid had to be dead if he’d been gone so long already. His friend didn’t look quite as bundled up as he should be.

The trail almost impossible to follow since a brief flurry had blown through not an hour ago. Hard to distinguish any prints, and the freshest were from him riding Calliope through the knee-deep snow. She wuffed and complained the whole time. Arthur couldn’t blame her, just kept offering her a sugar cube when she sounded too annoyed with him.

Arthur pulled Calliope to a stop and scanned the frozen whiteness. He’d well and thoroughly searched the small stands of trees. Only place left was further up the mountain, up a small rise. He dismounted, wanted to give Calliope a break since they’d probably have to spend the night out in the cold.

Calliope whinnied at him as he trudged up the hill, but stayed in place. Arthur glanced over his shoulder at her, saw her pawing at the snow and shifting her feet. Agitated in a way Arthur hadn’t seen in a while, but he was cold and bothered and just wanted to find this guy’s almost-certainly dead friend and move on with his life.

A single lightning-burnt pine stood at the crest of the hill around a cluster of rocks. And of course, beneath the tree face-down was a body. Snow around it churned, disturbed clear down to bare ground in some places. A darkness all around the body that Arthur recognized as blood just a few seconds too late.

The bear came outta nowhere. Hadn’t even growled at him, the way most bears had the courtesy to do before trying to shred him to death. Had a pistol in one hand but the bear pinned him in a second and the gun disappeared into the snow.

Arthur cried out as he went down. The bear had a paw on each arm, claws dug into the meatiest part his biceps. Hot rancid breath curled over Arthur’s face as the bear sniffed, a scant inch away. Through the terror-fast pound of his heart, Arthur had enough presence of mind to be confused the bear was all-white and very obviously  _ not _ a grizzly. Thought he’d seen every odd white version of animal there was. Didn’t have the same round face as a grizzly, smaller ears.

And it was bigger than a goddamn grizzly.

The white bear reared back, tore Arthur’s clothes and flesh as it dragged its claws free. His own noise was covered by its roar. He had enough time to roll out of the way before it crashed back into the snow. It swiped at Arthur as he scrambled down the hill, caught him by the calf and dragged him back. Arthur shouted for Calliope before he could think better of it.

The bear flipped him onto his back. Arthur managed to kick it in the nose and scoot backwards a few feet before it bit down on his ankle. 

Could hear his own scream over the bear, this time. The world swirled around him as the bear used its grip on his ankle to swing him around, shake him up and confuse him. It let go, tossed him towards the rocks. Bounced off it with the force, earned himself a good and proper concussion. The cold air stung the open wound on his ankle. Could smell his own blood.

The bear roared. Arthur thought it might be coming towards him, but he couldn’t tell which of the three was the real thing. Resigned himself to death and cursed the dead feller and his friend.

A blurry red shape slammed into the bear. The two went down in a heap. Calliope’s rage bounced off the high rock walls. The shear whinnies twinned with the baritone roars convinced Arthur he was listening to some kind of battle between two gods older than human memory.

A deep thud, the hollow sound of a dead tree falling in the forest. The sharp crack of thick winter lake ice and all the movement stopped. Arthur blinked, trying to clear his vision, found the heap of white and red a few yards from him.

The white blur growled and started to move. Arthur fumbled with his second pistol, aimed into the center of the white mass with a trembling bloodied hand and emptied the clip. Bright red spread from the white and it moved no more.

The pistol fell noiselessly into the snow. Arthur closed his eyes and willed the world to stop spinning beneath him.

Something soft and warm nudged his hand, bit his sleeve and moved the arm out of the snow and onto his chest. Arthur opened his eyes to a blurry Calliope nosing him all over, trying to get him to move. Small, concerned grunts with each white puff of her heavy breathing.

Arthur was starting to feel the cold. Was starting to feel the injuries, too, a sharp contrast. Calliope tugged at the collar of his shirt with more concerned noises. Arthur pat the side of her face, weak.

“There’s my brave girl.”

Calliope dropped to her knees next to him, tried to make it easier for him to mount back up. The saddle had gone crooked on her back. Miracle it was still attached. Arthur tried to see past her to the bear, but things had gone dark and fuzzy around the edges.

“ ‘m sorry, girl.” Arthur curled one hand in her mane and promptly passed out.

  
  
“Mister? Mister? You awake? Probably better you aren’t, I don’t really know what I’m doing. . . .”

“Don’t touch me if you ain’t gonna do it right,” Arthur ground out before he had even opened his eyes. Air around him was pleasantly warm and it felt like he was on a decent bed.

“Oh thank god! I’m so sorry mister, I didn’t think—there weren’t bears here the last time I came huntin’, and Daniel—”

Arthur peeled his eyes open. “Not your fault.” Managed to sit up on his own, barely.

The kid looked younger than John, fresh-faced and wide eyed. Might even be younger than Lenny. “The hell’re you doing hunting up here anyways.”

“I—I just turned eighteen, it’s—my Pa, see—”

Arthur waved him off. Took stock of his injuries. The kid had must’ve gotten him to the cabin, had a good fire going. Arthur still had his clothes on, soaked now from the snow but not so much with blood. The kid had gotten his boot off, presumably to try treating the wound. Arthur was glad he’d woken up when he did, didn’t trust some teenager to treat a bear bite proper.

As far as bear attacks went, Arthur was lucky. The wounds on his arms needed stitching, but not so bad he couldn’t get back to camp with them just bandaged. The ankle was the worst of it and he was reasonably sure it weren’t broken. Grimshaw would have his ear for it, no doubt, but he could get moving again with some rest.

“You got any medical supplies?”

The kid bustled around the cabin, babbling the whole time. Arthur didn’t focus on what the kid was saying, wanting to save what strength he had left for wrapping everything.

“Help me outta my coat.”

The kid took directions well. Arthur got his ankle and calf bound fine on his own, but needed the kid to help wind the bandages around his upper arms. Arthur’s thick winter clothes had kept the damage down, at least. He’d have to make a visit to the trapper with some pelts and see if the friendly Canuck could repair the tears.

“You got any food in this place?”

“Uh, I brought some cans, was planning on hunting for the rest. . . .”

Arthur sighed. Swung his legs over the edge of the bed, eased himself to standing. The kid made like he was going to try to help, but Arthur waved him off. Limped over to the door and nearly smacked Calliope when he opened it. She’d been standing too close, whinnied and stamped her feet when she saw him.

“Shh shh, it’s okay girl.”

Arthur wanted privacy to look her over, so he dug out some dried meat and a wedge of cheese and two cans of beans, told the kid to heat them up while he tended Calliope.

She had her head planted square in Arthur’s chest, loudly breathing him in. Arthur ran his fingers through her mane, scratched behind her ears. Took her to the hitching post outside the cabin’s single window, undid all her tack and started checking her for injuries. A single shallow mark ran the length of her belly, already scabbed over. The cut had snagged on the girth strap of the saddle, probably what had kept the injury from being worse. Three neat lines over one shoulder, a little deeper, but they hadn’t bled too bad. Arthur bit his cheek as he spread salve over the wounds, one hand always on Calliope’s side to reassure her. Whenever he was close enough, she swung her head to nudge at whatever part of him she could reach.

Arthur tucked the salve into a saddle bag and just stood there with Calliope’s head against his chest until the kid opened the door to tell him the food was ready.

\- 0 - 0 - 0 -

“I know it’s been a while, but thought you deserved this after that mess in the mountains.”

Calliope sniffed at the edge of the spring, pressed close against Arthur. He’d removed all her tack, just had a short length of rope looped loose around her neck in case she got startled. He was stripped down to his union suit with the legs rolled up past his knees.

He stepped into the spring up to his shins. Just a touch warmer than a bath, something in the water immediately soothing the bone-deep soreness that hadn’t yet healed out of his ankle.

“C’mon, girl. Nice and warm.” Had a peppermint in his hand to further encourage her.

Calliope took a cautious step forward. Made a little surprised noise in the back of her throat and then trotted in, past Arthur, until the water came up to her belly in the deepest part of the hotspring. Arthur sat on the edge, legs stretched out, and watched her splash around like a newborn foal in a grassy meadow for the first time. 

It’d been a few weeks since the run-in with the white bear. Described the odd creature to Hosea, who said it sounded like a polar bear, though they weren’t known to range this far south, so he doubted that were the case. Arthur didn’t press it but he was certain it weren’t just a white grizzly.

Guilt stabbed into Arthur whenever he saw the marks on Calliope. They’d healed well, hadn’t even been  _ deep _ , weren’t going to affect her in any way long term. People kept reassuring him she’d be fine but he still felt awful about it, if he’d just been able to get his gun up sooner, if he hadn’t  _ called for her _ —

Warm water splashed across his face, soaked into his union suit. Calliope wickered at him and reared again, dousing him good this time. Her mane was plastered against her skin, bangs probably covering most of her vision but she always seemed to know exactly where Arthur was.

“Oh, so it’s gonna be like that, huh?”

Calliope snorted and dashed into the middle of the spring. Arthur waded after her, laughing.

**Author's Note:**

> ok now I'm lowkey mad there isn't a polar bear for you to hunt as part of the legendaries for this game


End file.
